Sunday, August 23, 2015

Lots on this weekend. The gym to go to, Friend to meet for brunch. Facial to enjoy (a birthday present to myself) . Writer's Festival session to enjoy and then review - and the copy is due around midnight.

So, let's get this out the way. Questions, as always, courtesy of Sunday Stealing.

Name a product you buy mostly because it has a cool package.

Jo Malone perfume. Not only does it smell great, but they go over the top on the packaging at the department store.

What flavor cake do you like for your birthday?

A David Jones flourless lemon cake with cream cheese icing would be just perfect, thank you.Have you ever been in love with someone much older or younger than you?

No. I had a fling with somebody 20 years my senior many many years ago. It wasn't love.

Have you ever had a job you loved?

Yes. And then after a few months I got rather disillusioned. I was just busy enough and the work was stimulating. That is the sort of job I love.

Have you ever been in a building that was on fire?

No.

Are you in an argument with anyone right now?

NoWould you change your hair color to something outrageous if you would get paid to?

No. My hair takes on colour far to easily.

Have you ever written a poem for someone?

I do this regularly. My muse likes it when I do.

What is a place you’ve vacationed at and would like to go back to?

In no order, Spain, Italy. France, the UK, New York City, Boston, Ubud in Bali, Chiang Mai in Thailand, New Zealand.

Do you eat samples at the grocery store?

Only if they appeal, which is about a quarter of the time.

What do you absolutely have to have to make your birthday feel special?

Having somebody say happy birthday is enough. I had a birthday this week. No presents, two cards and a bunch of flowers and a couple of meals bought for me - I'm doing okay for this birthday. Eleventy humph is nothing to celebrate anyway.

What’s the last tourist area you visited?

I was at Federation Square at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) about three hours ago.

Where do you go out to eat for a special occasion?

Anywhere with good food. I'd still love to go to Vue de Monde one day.When was the last time you went to a post office?

About a month ago. I was out of stamps.

Is there an item you are saving up to buy right now?

Other than tuition? I think I'll be saving for another holiday soon - and I wouldn't mind saving for a new laptop and a smart television.

Are you psychic in any way?

A little. I read tarot professionally - does that count?

Do you prefer a laptop or desktop? Which are you on now?

Laptop. And I'm on a laptop now.

Have you ever received a gift and truly did not know what it was?

I once received a sex toy as a present. I wasn't sure why I was given it (single and dateless at the time) nor what I was supposed to do with it.

What’s your homepage?

Google.

Is there a thing you enjoy doing, but quit because you are not good at it?
Playing the flute and acting. Enjoy both. Crap at both.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Another Sunday, another blog.Some rather banal questions from Sunday Stealing this week.

Having a lovely weekend doing some writing for the Melbourne Writer's Festival, finishing my course work and preparing for the week ahead. It's nice to have a quiet one. My hair has been cut and coloured and I've taken myself off to see "The Man from U.N.C.L.E" for the afternoon - so it's been a good weekend. (Henry Cavill is far too good looking for his own good, and strangely Armie Hammer is more than the walking talking cricket bat I thought he was)

Anywhere, here's this week's quiz.

Are your nails painted a dark or light color?

Until yesterday my fingernails were a nice, light pinky brown colour (OPI Dulche de Leche) My toenails are a larey red as per usual.

Have you ever order pizza online?

I never order pizza - so no.

What color was the last candle you lit?

Green. I light lots of green candles to bring in money.

Is there something written on your shirt right now?

No.

Is there a bookshelf in your room?

Not in my bedroom, but I have three full ones in the living room.Do you own a treadmill?

No. That's what the gym is for.

Have you ever signed up for a gym membership?

I'm very proud to say that I've had a gym membership for ten years and it's been used a couple of times a week all of the time I've had it.Is there a garbage can in your room? What color is it?

No. That lives under the kitchen sink. It's grey.

Have you ever read in the bathtub?

I do that at every opportunity I can find.

Have you ever had to wear a hairnet?

Thankfully I've never had a job in food services.

Do you know how many pages the last book you read had?
I'm reading Peter Carey's Amnesia at the moment. It had 375 pages.

What day of the week does the laundry usually get done?

I have no set day for doing the laundry, but I'll normally do a load or two on the weekend

Do you use the Facebook chat often?

Yes.Do you have any baby pictures of yourself on your computer?

No. Most of my baby photos were destroyed in a fire when was five years old.

Do you eat onion rings?

No.

What flavor of tea did you last have?

T2 Caramel Brownie Tea. It's wonderful.

Do you own a bathrobe?

I have a number of them in various weights and lengths.

Did you/will you have coffee or some other form of caffeine today?

Just finishing my morning coffee now.

Do you have a mailbox or do you collect your mail from the post office?

I've had a post office box for nearly 15 years - with identity theft rife and the fact that I live in an area where there is a lot of petty crime, I think I'll be keeping it.

What was the last animal you saw, and was it a pet?

30 seconds ago. Maow Maow wants his dinner.

What was the last documentary you watched focusing on?

Highclere House, the manor house in which Downton Abbey is filmed.

Is there anything you need to remember to do before the day ends?

Set the alarm, putting out my clothes for tomorrow, set up my coffee pot so I don't have to think about it in the morning.

Is your car messy, or do you like to keep it clean?

It's pretty clean inside and out. I like to keep it so people can get into it and I'm not too embarrassed. Normally there's only a couple of sheets of paper to shift.,

Are you the type to wake up before the sun has even risen?

I'm normally up at sunrise. Not before and normally not too much after. Do you get uncomfortable when people stare at you?

Yes. I don't care if they stare but it can make me uncomfortable.

Have you ever been admitted to the hospital for a long period of time?
The longest I've been in hospital was about a week when I was a kid and they were fixing my legs. Other than the odd day surgery in adulthood, that's been it, thank goodness.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Sometimes Sunday Stealing does well, other times not so much. These questions are a bit meh. Never to worry, I've been sweating over a paper for my Masters. That's now been submitted - so basically I'm now a quarter the way though my Masters (as long as I pass...)

Anyway, This week's questions.

Have you ever demolished a wall or building?

No. But I would like to.If you and a friend both wanted the same thing would you let the friend get it first?

Probably - or take it in turns at going first - that's fair.

Have you ever argued over who should pay for something?

Not in many years. My friends are really fair like that.

Do you have any family heirlooms?

I have my grandmother's colander, egg beater and saucepan. Not really heirlooms, but I think of my grandma every time I use them. I also have my mother's engagement rings.

Are you related or distantly related to anyone famous?

Nope.

What's your favorite ocean?

Being brought up in South Australia, I love the Southern Ocean. It's cold and brooding. Love it.

Do you correct peoples mistakes?

Depends if I'm asked to correct them. Sometimes. I correct people in my head all the time.

Have you ever helped out an injured animal?

Of course.

Do you throw bread for the ducks?

I haven't done that for years, but yes, if I had bread and ducks they would get fed.

Do you think babies are little bundles of joy or smelly noisy things?

I think they're smelly, noisy bundles of joy. Depends on the baby - they're more fun once they can keep their necks straight.

Do you give money to buskers?

Only if they're really good or really funny.Do you ever forward or reply to chain mails?

I try not to.Do you often have a tune in your head you can't name?

I can name all of my ear worms. And if I get one I can't name I sing this, which stops the nasty ear worm in it's tracks.

Sunday, August 2, 2015

At an airport after a lovely weekend enjoying some sunshine and warmer weather. My jumper will be going on just before I board the plane, my coat is at the top of my bag ready for arriving in Melbourne where there will be a ten degree temperature drop.

Oh yes. I will yell at the telly if I don't like what a character is about to do. I yell at Dr Blake all the time. It's good that I live alone.

3. What's the highest hill or mountain you've every climbed?

Unsure, but Wat Doi Suthep in Thailand feels right. It was a big hike from the car park.

4. Do you have a piggy bank?

No. Just a couple of bank accounts.

5. What's the fastest you've travelled in a car?

About 110 miles an an hour he motorways in England. Many years ago.

6. Have you ever hand milked a cow?

Yes. I grew up around dairy farms. Haven't all kids?

7. What is your favourite science? Biology, Chemistry or Physics?

Chemistry. Strangely good at it topped the subject in my last year of school. I can still recite the first twenty elements on the periodic table.8. Have you ever had a surprise party that was an actual surprise?

No. My friends aren't that organised and they know I hate surprises.

9. Have you ever word clothing with the tags / labels still attached?

No. I'm good at taking them off once I've got them home.

10. Have you ever slipped on a banana skin?

No. Has anybody done that outside of cartoons?

11. Are you scared of the dark?

Depends where I am. Around the house - no. Walking home from the tram at 11 pm along dark streets can be a bit uncomfortable.

12. Do you have a lawyer?

No. But I have enough friends who are lawyers. I'd like to think I could get emergency legal advice pretty easily.13. If you had a paid year off what would you do?

I think I'd write my novel - and get really, really fit again. You need time to get really, really fit.

14. How long was your last phone call?

Most of my phone calls are about two to three minutes. I think it was on Friday night, I had to tell my leg waxer I was going to be a bit late because the police had our building in lock down. (Christopher Pyne's book launch - there were more protesters and police than people at the launch - all a run of the mill Friday night... by the way, I saw Christopher Pyne at the airport. He's shorter than I remember him. And I didn't heckle. I wanted to, but I wanted to make my plane. I did want to ask him how he felt about having a book launch for a book that might make say $20,000 and wasting probably close to half a million on the security detail and the police involvement.)

My last skype call, however, was just off three hours long. That's a bit of a record for me.15. Have you ever helped somebody across the road?

Yes.They were drunk. I didn't want them falling over.

16. Have you ever been wolf-whistled in the street?

With the Adam Goodes saga going on here, I think this might be the next hot topic. (I stand with Adam, not that anybody will ask. We live in an inherently racist country, it's time we looked at this and realised how this revolting behaviour impacts on people. He have to deal with this.)

So have I been wolf whistled in the street. Yes. And spat on, and shouted at, and harangued and you name it. I'm paid 17% less than my male counterparts, I'm seen as a second class citizen in the eyes of a few. I'm used to having my opinions ignored. My sanitary items are taxed. I've been groped up, looked up, suggested to and followed home - all against my wishes.

So yes, I've been wolf whistled in the street - and I'd like to take a baseball bat to the wankers.

Not only do we live in a racist country, we live in a sexist one too. And it has to stop.

And I'm going to play the musical version of the Misogyny Speech again because Julia Gillard speaks for me. It's not everybody, but it's a dreadful overhang from our past - when men thought they owned women. Some men still think they do. Again, why is it our Minister for Women will do nothing to look at the dreadful domestic violence epidemic we've always had? Eh? Anybody?